If he has an attorney, and if they've put in a notice of appearance, then they ought to do it. Or he should find a new lawyer. I do not know if a neighbor can put in an amended answer, but I would doubt it as the tenant would have to sign it (and probably verify it as well). The in-person answer with checkboxes is really meant for the initial answer, and I don't think they would allow amended answers using that form.

Housing Court can be somewhat informal, so if the tenant is back when there's an appearance, he can ask the judge to amend the answer. Some might allow it.

Look, the guy has a lawyer. The judge would likely ask why they didn't do it. In that sense it's not an emergency.

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I didn't say he can add laches as defense at a later time; I said it would likely be up to a judge. Of course the LL attorney could throw a fit and box the judge into a corner.

BTW, laches doesn't get the tenant off the hook; it just means that the LL would be forced to bring a case in Civil Court, not housing court. And ... ,civil court is more formal and might allow discovery as-of-right. In other words, be careful what you wish for.

I don't know how the electronic signing thing works. Do you have any info sheets or URLs that describe that?

The Tenant Network(tm) for Residential Tenants Information from TenantNet is from experienced non-attorney tenant activists and is not considered legal advice.Subscribe to our Twitter Feed @TenantNet